20160601 LIVING THE RESURRECTED LIFE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Red.
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First reading
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2 Timothy
1:1-3,6-12 ©
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From Paul, appointed
by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ
Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from
God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Night and
day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as
my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers. That is why I am
reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my
hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power,
and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the
Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships
for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and
called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but
for his own purpose and by his own grace. This grace had already been granted
to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed
by the Appearing of our saviour Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has
proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News; and I have been named
its herald, its apostle and its teacher.
It is
only on account of this that I am experiencing fresh hardships here now; but I
have not lost confidence, because I know who it is that I have put my trust in,
and I have no doubt at all that he is able to take care of all that I have
entrusted to him until that Day.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 122:1-2 ©
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To you, O Lord, I
lift up my eyes.
To you have I lifted
up my eyes,
you who
dwell in the heavens;
my eyes, like the
eyes of slaves
on the
hand of their lords.
To you, O Lord, I
lift up my eyes.
Like the eyes of a
servant
on the
hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on
the Lord our God
till he
show us his mercy.
To you, O Lord, I
lift up my eyes.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn17:17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O
Lord:
consecrate us in the
truth.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn11:25, 26
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the resurrection
and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in
me will never die.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 12:18-27 ©
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Some Sadducees –
who deny that there is a resurrection – came to him and they put this
question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, if a man’s brother
dies leaving a wife but no child, the man must marry the widow to raise up
children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a
wife and then died leaving no children. The second married the widow, and he
too died leaving no children; with the third it was the same, and none of the
seven left any children. Last of all the woman herself died. Now at the
resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be, since she had been
married to all seven?’
Jesus
said to them, ‘Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither
the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and
women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead
rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about
the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You
are very much mistaken.’
LIVING
THE RESURRECTED LIFE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ 2 Timothy
1:1-3, 6-12; Psalm 122:1-2; Mark 12:18-27 ]
What is the resurrected
life like? This is the question posed in today’s gospel. Although a
hypothetical question, it is a question about the next life and how it would be
like. The truth is that whilst we might never know exactly what the
resurrected life is like after death, we are not totally lacking knowledge as
well. Yet because we are speaking about the resurrected life, we must be
careful not to think of the resurrected life as a resuscitation of this earthly
life. Whilst it is not wrong to think that there is certainly continuity
of this life into the next, there is also a radical discontinuity because we
are speaking of a life perfected at the end of time.
Hence,
the reply of Jesus is important as a gauge to help us understand the next
life. Firstly, it is clear that the next life is a perfection of life and
a perfection of love. We can surmise from the reply of Jesus when He
said, “Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the
scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and
woman do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven.” Our
bodies to some extent would be like the angels that could transcend space and
time; yet however, we are not angels or pure spirits but resurrected bodies
with spirit.
Not only is there
perfection of the body that makes us bear the powers of the angels and yet
still possessing our resurrected bodies, even love is perfected. On
earth, love is particular, as in a marriage. Human love on earth
tends to be focused, exclusive, attached and particular. We have
limitations in sharing our love with everyone. This is particularly true
in marriage. Because human beings are weak and imperfect in love, we tend
to love our own kind first and then love others with whatever love we have
left. Such a love is far from the love of God because God’s love is given
to all without exception. As Jesus said, “be children of your Father in
heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you,
what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And
if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than
others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as
your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:45-48
)
)
Everyone is called to
holiness of life according to one’s vocation. St Paul wrote, “Night and
day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as
my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers.” So like our
ancestors we are called to serve God according to our state of life, whether we
are married or single. We are called to love accordingly those whom the
Lord has entrusted to us, whether our spouse, children or subordinates; and to
give ourselves to those under our charge totally; and most of all, seeking to
do God’s will at all times.
Yet, the call to devoted
service and sacrifices can be rather challenging. It is a tall order
indeed. To love one day or even one year, we might be able to. To
make sacrifices now and then, we might be ready. But to love day in and
day out all the years of our life, making constant sacrifices daily? We can be
forgiven for feeling tired, worn out, and burnt-out. After some time,
whether in ministry or in volunteer work or simply doing our duty, we feel like
giving up. The joy is diminished or even gone completely. It
becomes a burden, a chore, a sacrifice without joy. This loss of zeal
could also come from failure, disappointment, disillusionment and
opposition. Indeed, this was the case of St Paul and St Timothy in the
early Church when they had to contend with much opposition.
How, then, can we recover
our zeal for the Lord as we see in St Paul? He was clear that he had the
responsibility to spread the Good News because the Lord had named him as his
“herald, its apostle and its teacher.” It is necessary that we rekindle
that flame of ordination and mission that has been entrusted to us. St
Paul encouraged Timothy thus, “This is why I am reminding you now to fan into a
flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was
not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control.
So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for
being his prisoner; but with me bear the hardships for the sake of the Good
News.”
How, then, do we flame the
gift of our vocation that the Lord has given to us? Firstly, let us once
again be grateful for His grace which was given to us at the cost of His life.
“He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the
Good News.” When we are grateful for the gift of salvation and the gift
of vocation, then we will treasure it. Otherwise, we do not cherish the
gifts that He has given us. More often than not, whether it is the
gift of ordination, or the gift of a loving spouse and children, we tend to
forget and take the gifts for granted till they are taken away. Being
grateful for the gift of vocation and those the Lord entrusted to us to take
care and love is the way to recover our zeal and passion.
Secondly, we must not
forget the good examples of others. In the case of St Paul, he thought of
the ancestors before him who lived exemplary lives of faith and obedience to
God. He said, “Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and
remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my
prayers.” In the case of young Timothy, he has the personal example of St Paul
to inspire and edify him in being a courageous and persevering bishop to his
flock. Through the examples of others, especially when we have good
mentors, we too will be encouraged to imitate their examples in love and
service. What we are lacking today are witnesses for Christ who are
willing to walk the talk. Blessed are we when we have good mentors
to guide us in life and in faith.
Thirdly, we need to cling
to God’s promise. When God calls us, He qualifies us. He never asks
us to do His work alone without giving us His help and assistance. When
He calls, He empowers. What gave St Paul impetus and courage in times of
difficulties and trials? He had only to rely “on the power of God who has
saved us and called us to be holy.” He surrendered his life, his work and
mission to the Lord. “It is only on account of this that I am experiencing
fresh hardships here now; but I have not lost confidence, because I know who it
is that I have put my trust in, and I have no doubt at all that he is able to
take care of all that I have entrusted to him until that Day.” St Paul
knew that God was trustworthy. He wrote, “The saying is sure: If we have
died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also
reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless,
he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Tim 2:11-13
) It is by God’s grace alone that we can do His work and
remain faithful to His grace.
) It is by God’s grace alone that we can do His work and
remain faithful to His grace.
In the final analysis, when
we are faithful to our vocation, we will find peace in our hearts and joy in
our lives. We should not be concerned about whether we are successful or
not, because success is the Lord’s will and not ours. We should be happy
that we have been faithful to our vocation and calling, doing all we can with a
clear conscience. That was the secret of St Paul’s joy when he wrote,
“Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty
to him.” Indeed, if we just seek to be faithful to Him, “He will also
strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord
Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of
his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor 1:8f
) Let us never forget that the God we serve is a
living God. He is the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of
Jacob. He is God, not of the dead but of the living.” So in Christ
Jesus, we know we are already sharing in that resurrected life when we live the
life of Christ in service and love for His greater glory and the spread of the
gospel.
) Let us never forget that the God we serve is a
living God. He is the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of
Jacob. He is God, not of the dead but of the living.” So in Christ
Jesus, we know we are already sharing in that resurrected life when we live the
life of Christ in service and love for His greater glory and the spread of the
gospel.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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